Quote:Skopje Celebrates FYROM Success
// 26 September 2008
From Branko Cupeski, Skopje
The players of FYROM's basketball team are the new heroes in their country and it's not just because they have booked a place in next year's EuroBasket in Poland.
No, sports fans in the country couldn't help but admire the passion and flair Jovica Arsic's men showed in their qualifying campaign.
"We will not stop here," said 35-year-old FYROM captain Vrbica Stefanov.
"We will go to Poland to represent our country, to show our personality, to give another dimension to the basketball world.
"We will all start the new season in our teams with pleasure, and with the greatest desire to show our best at the EuroBasket next year."
FYROM edged out Latvia for first place in Group B of EuroBasket Division A with Portugal third and Estonia fourth.
The successful summer wasn't lost on anyone.
It turned out to be a state occasion.
The second greatest success of FYROM basketball (after competing in the final round in France nine years ago) was recognized by the country's Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who welcomed the players to his office.
There, he promised to follow the team in Poland, although he wasn't able to be at the qualification games due to state matters.
"The country thanks you for the joy that you gave us," he said.
The Basketball Federation of FYROM, which has received pledges of support from the government and the state agency for youth and sports, is already working on ââ¬ËProject Poland'.
"This is a mega project for us," said Daniel Dimevski, the president of the basketball federation.
"I hope that the entire nation enjoyed this achievement and this success, one of the greatest in our independent history.
"I am pleased that our country is feeling proud of winning our group. We will show that our place is with the best of Europe.
"All of us being part of this event will give our maximum to represent our country in the best way possible."
The celebration after the last game, FYROM's 87-75 win over Estonia on Saturday which gave the team a 4-2 record, carried over from the basketball court to the Cuban restaurant in Skopje that is renowned for evening parties.
The establishment is owned by a basketball legend in FYROM and an Olympic silver medalist with Yugoslavia, Blagoja Georgievski Bustur.
He was more than pleased to welcome the FYROM players to his club, and to give them some advice on being top level players.
That evening, there was an even more landmark occasion.
FYROM's national team manager Ilija Merganovski agreed to have the mustache he had worn for more than 20 years shaved off.
Pero Antic performed the "operation" and was assisted by fellow star player Todor Gecevski.
"It was a promise that I had to keep," Merganovski said.
"I am not sorry for my loss, the mustache will grow back, hopefully to celebrate another success in Poland."
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Quote:Stefanov, FYROM Embrace The Challenge
When national teams have to travel to FYROM to play basketball, they compete in what hoops fans in the country affectionately call the ââ¬Ëdevil's playground'.
Teams sure have one ââ¬Ëhelluva' hard time getting wins in places like Skopje, and that's a big reason why FYROM are back in the EuroBasket next year.
Led by the veteran guard and captain Vrbica Stefanov, and thanks to the dynamic, all-round performances of stars like Zadar's Todor Gecevski, FYROM finished top of their qualifying group this year ahead of Latvia, Portugal and Estonia to earn a trip to the Final Round in Poland.
On Saturday, they discovered they would go up against Greece and Croatia - two national sides that played at this summer's Olympics - and nemesis Israel.
The Israelis beat FYROM at the EuroBasket in 1999, and in the decisive game of the Additional Qualifying Tournament last year for EuroBasket 2007. The Croatians have also won their two encounters when the stakes were high, during qualifying for EuroBasket 2003.
Rather than quake in their boots with what appears to be a very tough draw, Stefanov and FYROM are excited.
"When the qualifications finished, when we topped our group, all of us were aware of the task in front of us," Stefanov said.
"All I can say is that every single one of us in the national team wished to play against Greece, to finally see what we are made of.
"Now we have that chance, so let's use it."
The challenge for FYROM will be psychological as well because they will not have the rabid support they enjoy at home, though thousands of fans are expected to travel to the city of Poznan for the Group A games from places like Skopje.
"I personally think that we can match all three opponents," Stefanov said.
"The Greek side is the favorite in our group, we know Croatia and especially Israel very well and this is a chance to finally get over the Israel syndrome.
"Nobody is invincible, so is the case in our group.
"We started the preparations the first moment we found out who our opponents would be."
To advance from the group would be a fitting end to what is expected to be the last international games for Stefanov, who turns 35 on December 19.
"It will all depend on our performance," he said.
"This might be the end of a generation that played for more than 10 years together, so we want to use the opportunity to leave a mark in the history of FYROM basketball."
Jovica Arsic, the coach of FYROM, says it's okay to be excited but he has also urged everyone to keep their feet on the ground.
"Now we have extra motivations, so we have to use that moment in our favor," he said.
"We should concentrate on all three games and use every single chance that is given. We have to stay calm, on the ground, to prepare well so that we can match our opponents in the first phase.
"The competition system demands games every day so we must be focused all the time. It is more likely to win against Israel, a team that comes from the fourth pot than against Greece, the first pot team, but I won't exclude anything."
In their one and so far only EuroBasket appearance in 1999, FYROM finished 13th and Greece were 16th while Croatia were 11th and Israel ninth.
The best performance of any national basketball side from the country is fourth place at the European Championship for Cadets in 1995.
The Greek basketball fans will be well aware of FYROM, and particularly Stefanov (AEK and Olympiacos), Pero Antic (AEK) and Jeremiah Massey (ARIS) who used to play in Greece.
Dimitar Mirakovski currently plays in the Greek second division (Ago Rethimno Almeco, Greece-A2).
Gecevski, meanwhile, needs no introduction as he is arguably the best player and the captain of Croatian side Zadar.
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they have nice team and you can expect that game with greece will be high tensions and posibly high risk one becose of political reasons
FYROM NT will travel to Ankara in August to take participation in this years Efes Cup. From August 26th until 30th, FYROM will face Latvia and Great Britain. If they pass the group their potential opponents could be Turkey, Croatia or Germany. This will be a great test for FYROM who prepares for the upcoming European Championship in Poland. It was the first idea for FYROM Federation to organize the Tournament in Ohrid. However they could not wait anymore on Serbian federation to confirm their participation so they decided to accept the invitation from Turkish Federation. FYROM NT Head Coach, Jovica Arsic still hopes that the free dates between August 16th and 18th will be used to get more friendly games. Currently the possible opponents for that period could be Slovakia and possibly Crvena Zvezda from Belgrade. Arsic would like to arrange as many as possible control games which will enable him to prepare his time so they reach optimal form for the Championship in Poland.
FYROM NT qualified for European Championship after being better than Portugal, Latvia and Estonia. They have high hopes for this year Championship as they hope to reach at least Quarterfinals. They are a fairly balanced team consisting of players who play mostly aboard. During qualification their main three players were Vrbica Stefanov (188-G-73, agency: Interperformances), Todor Gecevski (209-C-77, agency: Interperformances) and Jeremiah Massey (202-F-82, college: Kansas St.). They were leading scorers during qualification averaging around 13 points per game each. They also received help from Pero Antic and Vlado Ilievski (190-G-80, agency: World Sport Agency). For European Championship FYROM is drawn in group along with Greece, Croatia and Israel.